QB Rumors: Cook, Goff, Wentz, Manziel

After spending the last week “sniffing around on the situation,” Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com is more convinced than ever that Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook will come off the board earlier than expected in this year’s draft.Connor Cook While other quarterbacks, such as Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, and Paxton Lynch, are being discussed more frequently in media circles, La Canfora suspects that a few NFL teams are hoping Cook flies under the radar.

According to La Canfora, at least one club is considering moving up from the second round to late in the first round to take Cook, if he’s available, and several teams have him rated as the second-best quarterback on their boards.

“We like the kid a lot,” said an executive from one team that has Cook second on its draft board. “We don’t think there is a whole lot separating some of these quarterbacks and Cook is the most ready to play. Goff, look at his tape against Utah, it’s not pretty. And Wentz, there is a lot to like there, but he needs to go somewhere and sit for a year or two and develop.”

Cook will have a busy schedule this week, according to La Canfora, who writes that the QB is visiting the Cowboys, Dolphins, Broncos, and 49ers. Cook will also visit the Jets and Bears, and work out for the Rams. He has previously visited the Ravens and Bills, and met with the Browns.

Here are a few more updates on quarterbacks who are seeking NFL jobs:

  • Jared Goff and Carson Wentz will be in Santa Clara this week to meet with the 49ers, writes Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. San Francisco holds the No. 7 overall pick and is believed to be in the market for a quarterback.
  • In addition to meeting with San Francisco, Goff will visit the Saints, Eagles, and Jets in the coming days, tweets Michael Silver of the NFL Network. Unless Goff slips a little in the draft, at least two of those clubs would likely have to trade up to have a chance to land the Cal QB, so the fact that he’s meeting with those teams is interesting.
  • Wentz and Paxton Lynch, like Goff, will be visiting the Eagles this week, says Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter link).
  • Penn State signal-caller Christian Hackenberg is among the quarterbacks meeting with the Jets this week, per Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • Although Johnny Manziel told TMZ over the weekend that he’s living with Von Miller in Los Angeles, sources tell ESPN that Manziel is actually living with Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon. While it’s entirely possible that Manziel and Gordon are helping one another to stay out of trouble and get back on the field, the arrangement may not look great to potential Manziel suitors, or – in Gordon’s case – to the league office. It probably also didn’t improve Manziel’s odds of landing a job that he told TMZ that he had been out in West Hollywood five or six nights in a row, adding that he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with “partying.”
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